It was Powell who told the United Nations and the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and posed an imminent threat. He told Walters that he feels "terrible" about the claims he made in that now-infamous address --- assertions that later proved to be false.

When asked if he feels it has tarnished his reputation, he said, "Of course it will. It's a blot. I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and [it] will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now."

Glad that Powell is beginning to come clean. Though somehow, we have a feeling that speech ended up being much more painful for hundreds of thousands of Americans and Iraqis who will never be able to shake the "pain" caused by Powell's inability to stand up for his country instead of his blind "loyalty" to his boss.

By the way, Powell additionally acknowledges that he's never seen any connection between Saddam and 9/11. We mention that just for you Bush Dead-Enders out there. As well, the article goes on to discuss Powell's "loyalty" to the "President" instead of the country...

When Walters pressed Powell about that support, given the "mess" that the invasion has yielded, Powell said, "Who knew what the whole mess was going to be like?"

1) When Days Inn says they offer High-Speed Wireless Internet in their rooms, they don't mean that it actually works. Three different Days Inns over the last three weeks in three different states have been maddeningly disappointing in that regard. None of those Days Inns has offered a refund or even a discount for their inability to deliver what they'd promised.

3) George W. Bush performed flawlessly in every respect in his response to Hurricane Katrina. Every American can be justifiably bursting with pride in his great leadershipt. His ability to keep our country safe and secure --- precisely as he'd promised so many times in the past --- has never been more perfectly exemplified than in the last two weeks.

4) Out "in the wilds" there is no Internet (information), only Fake Conservative Talk Radio (lies).

6) Fake Conservatives on Talk Radio have a remarkable ability to lie in lockstep and with alarming effectiveness across a 24 hour broadcast day (several layers deep in most markets).

7) Americans who listen to Fake Conservatives on the radio are remarkably gullible and ever-surprisingly effective at parrotting what they've heard on the radio even when they are parrotting demonstrable lies and insipid spin. Such Americans are also masters of self-delusion.

8) Trolls and Bush Apologists of all stripes are welcome to post comments on The BRAD BLOG. Unlike most wingnut blogs, we welcome all points of view. Such trolls are not, however, allowed to post under different names or (more importantly) deliver personal attacks towards other commenters. That would include the repeated sad use of calling other commenters "socialists". Not that there's anything particular wrong with being a socialist, but when such language is meant as an attempt at some kind of perjorative with not a shred of supporting evidence to support said name-calling, its nothing more than a sad attempt at a personal attack.

9) The continued inability to follow the rules outlined in #8 will be grounds for having such comments deleted and/or the authors of said comments banned permanently at the discretion of myself or Official BRAD BLOG Concierge, Winter Patriot.

10) Falsely representing oneself as "a troop fighting in Iraq" will bring the same punishment as those violate the rules described in #8. After spending so many weeks and months speaking with actual such troops, and the families of those who've lost their lives fighting that ridiculous War for real, I'm especially sensitive to those jerks who would impersonate same.

11) I am remarkably generous. Please don't push me.

12) There are mountains in Northwest Texas. Beautiful ones. I previously had no idea.

14)BRAD BLOG Guest Bloggers David Edwards and Winter Patriot are not only great bloggers, they are tireless patriots and world-class human beings. Top-notch. As good as anyone could find. Anywhere.

15) For those wondering when I might reply to their email or return to full-time BRAD BLOGGING here, please see #1 once more and then count days with me until I'm finally off the road (only to leave again in a few weeks, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it...if it's not under water). Shouldn't be long now...Hopefully those who don't receive a reply will understand, I now receive nearly 1000 messages a day, and it's difficult --- if not impossible --- to read them all, let alone reply to all of them. But I'll do my best. Thanks for understanding.

In the past few days I have seen an amazing number of reports indicating that, in the wake of Katrina, things are not as they seem. On the surface, they seem awful. But behind the curtain they may well be much worse.

What else is new?

In this post I will share a few of those articles with you; if you have seen similar reports and wish to share them, please do so.

The reports that caught my eye seem to fall into three more-or-less related categories. For want of better terminology, let's call the categories "Secrecy", "Incompetence", and "Vague Suspicions".

Secrecy

The constant demand for secrecy is hardly surprising, given the track record of the current administration. No other administration in American history has spent so much money classifying so many documents, and even taking previously unclassified information out of the public domain.

Facing a severe budget deficit, the United States federal government last year spent a record amount of money keeping information from the public, according a recently released report conducted by a coalition of civil liberties and open-government advocacy groups.

In total, Washington spent at least $7.2 billion classifying records in 2004. The amount does not reflect spending by the Central Intelligence Agency.

In comparison, the 41 agencies studied spent only $1 declassifying records for every $148 spent keeping them out of reach, the OpentheGovernment.org report concluded. The year before, the government spent $120 to classify documents for every $1 spent making others publicly accessible. According to the compiled records, it cost taxpayers $460 to maintain each classified document last year.

I am the very model of a modern FEMA handle-er
Corrupt as any character you'll find in Raymond Chandle-er
Accomplished very little since I shot past Mummy's labia
Just bummed around until I found some horsies from Arabia

I lost the horsie gig when all the lawsuits started loading up
And then the Bushies asked if I would like to be their toading pup
I got this job because I know the asses that are kissable
I also know the color of the people who are missable.

Who cares about the puling putrid pesky proletariat?
The blacks are just a burden and no longer will we carry it.
The mother of our Fearless One is so aristocratical
And Rove will blame our own misdeeds on forces Democratical.

Denying food and water may have been a little frightening
But there's a city in the south that badly needed whitening.
Our ultimate intention is replacement of democracy --
Here comes a fundamentalist Dominionist theocracy!

Zogby Internation published its latest poll of Bush job approval today. The poll found that at 41% approval, an all time low, Bush "would lose to every modern president."

President Bush�s job approval rating took a hit in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, dropping to a historic low of 41%, a new Zogby America poll reveals. The same survey found the nation�s forty-third president would lose election contests against all of his predecessors since Jimmy Carter.

...
The 41% approval rating marks a precipitous drop in the President�s job rating, which has been slumping in a gradual trend that began in late February.

Positive

Excellent

Good

Negative

Fair

Poor

9-07-05

41

15

26

59

22

37

7-30-05

45

19

26

55

27

28

6-22-05

44

15

29

56

22

34

5-25-05

46

18

28

53

23

30

4-18-05

46

19

27

53

23

30

2-25-05

47

21

26

53

22

31

2-14-05

50

24

26

50

18

32

The poll also found that the public had a negative view of the president's handling of the Katrina disaster. Only 36% of people gave Bush passing marks. Only 32% of people gave passing marks to government in general.

In the past week, Bush administration officials and conservative commentators have repeatedly used the national media to spread misinformation about the federal government's widely criticized response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

1. Bush: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees"

2. Chertoff strained credulity in defense of Bush, claimed levee breaks and massive flooding came as a surprise --- more than 12 hours after local media reported them

3. Brown: "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day"

4. Chertoff: "Apparently, some time on Wednesday, people started to go to the convention center spontaneously"

5. Chertoff pointed fingers: "New Orleans officials and the state officials ... called for the Superdome to be the refuge of last resort"

6. Chertoff falsely minimized federal government's role in Katrina response as subordinate to states

7. Wash. Post, Newsweek, Gingrich falsely claimed that Blanco did not declare a state of emergency

8. Gingrich falsely claimed that Nagin could "have kept water pumped out" of city had he ensured that pumps worked

Read the Media Matters article and learn how each of the corporate media organizations quickly went from being the brave first-responders we saw reporting the Katrina story to a mere tool for spreading Bush Administration propagana.

CNN's Betty Nguyen reports that Houston's Reliant Center including the Astrodome has been 'locked down'. Without notice, all gates have been locked. No one (including press?) is allowed in or out of the center.

I have to tell you about something that's happened right now. We are under a lockdown at the Reliant Center which houses the Astrodome and three of the main shelters.

...
As of now there is a lockdown until further notice.

...
You're right, it does seem like a pretty extreme measure and actually it happened all of the sudden. All of the gates are locked down meaning that no one can get in or leave this Reliant Park area.

We were really given very little information about this. It's a temporary lockdown but will take place until further notice. We were also told by the Joint Information Center that it's basically to ensure the safety of all the people... There was no mention of people coming here to harass folks...

We got an interesting question from a BRAD BLOG reader named Bob, who asked why Brad all of a sudden stopped calling for impeachment.

I don't know, Bob. I'm pretty sure it's not indicative of a change of policy around here. So let's speculate for a moment, shall we?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Brad is on the road and hasn't been blogging very much... Maybe the guest bloggers are more concerned with bringing you news and analysis than simply repeating the often-repeated call for impeachment... Maybe it's because we think you already know where we stand... But on the other hand, maybe it's just because we forgot...

So maybe it's time for an IMPEACHMENT thread.

I pose the following questions: Is impeachment a viable option? If so, where are the votes going to come from? And if not, what other option(s) do you see as viable?

{Introduction by Winter Patriot: Chris Floyd joins us again for another guest spot, this time with news about Weapons Of Mass Destruction. Please note that Chris has a new website, Chris-Floyd.com. I suggest you modify your bookmarks accordingly. And without further ado... here's Chris:}

"Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying, "This land is condemned,
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem." --- Dylan, "Blind Willie McTell"

From the Gulf of Mexico to the Persian Gulf, Bush is busy earning his new title: Master of Disaster. Here we catch up with one of his most sordid --- and unsung --- war crimes: using radioactive "dirty bombs" and chemical weapons in Iraq. The item below was published in the Sept. 2 edition of The Moscow Times.

It was the one great fear that trumped all the others, the nightmare scenario that overrode reason, skepticism, and all political debate, stampeding the nation into war: the thought of terrorists wielding weapons of mass destruction --- "dirty bombs" packed with cancerous nukestuff and gene-warping chemical poisons that would kill, maim and deform the innocent.

This was the horror that George W. Bush and his supporters held up --- and still hold up --- before the American people as the moral imperative behind his invasion of Iraq, and the justification for any so-called "abuses" that might be committed in his desperate, noble, no-holds-barred defense of the realm against this ungodly terror.

And despite all the critics and nay-sayers, the president has indeed proven to be a prophet: the nightmare has come true. There are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq --- dirty bombs and poison shells --- and they are being used by terrorist leaders to kill and maim Americans, including newborn children. But the "liberal media" are completely burying the story, in a shameless act of treasonous complicity with these enemies of civilization.